cultural adaptation of Madarin-speaking Chinese students attending graduate school in US universities

cultural adaptation of Madarin-speaking Chinese students attending graduate school in US universities

INTRODUCTION

A large number of international students pursue education in U.S. universities, including more than 360,000 Chinese students in the 2017-2018 school year (Anderson & Svrluga, 2019).  The most common purposes for studying abroad are to study language, culture, politics, economy, and US  ideologies, as well as to make contributions upon returning home (Author, year). However, international students will encounter cross-cultural adaptation challenges (Author, year). A recent body of scholarship brings scholarly attention to the welfare and life satisfaction of these students (Songsirisak, 2018). The findings show the problems related to cultural adaptation include language barriers, lack of strategies to communicate effectively with native speakers, not being familiar with American culture, and not having appropriate social behaviors (Songsirisak, 2018).

Background and Need

The challenges of adapting to a new environment in college make life stressful for international students. International students, when trying to settle in a new environment, might have the U-curve model of cross-cultural adjustment.  Developed by Lysgaard (1955), the U-curve model of cross-cultural adjustment consists of four different adaptation stages. The first stage is the honeymoon. It starts with the satisfaction and feeling of well-being that students experience when entering a new culture. The second stage is culture shock, which refers to the frustration, anxiety, confusion, helplessness, and feeling of being unable to deal with cultural differences effectively. The third stage is an adjustment, in which students start to learn and accept the situation and the surrounding environment.  They then take the initiative to change their negative attitude to a positive attitude. The last stage is the recovery in which students begin to acquire the skills and cultural understanding of the second culture.

The most difficult period during the cross-cultural adaptation is the experience of  culture shock. While culture shock is just one part of the acculturation process, research indicates that approximately 41% of international students experience stress related to culture shock (Hongmei, 2017). This may include homesickness, cultural shock, and experiences of cultural discrimination. All these stresses may have harmful consequences such as uneasiness, insecurity, depression, anxiety, and even death.  Culture shock may also include difficulties related to learning which can include communication challenges, low self-esteem, the inability to adapt to new environments, isolation, and, therefore, sickness. Managing culture shock is vital for the well-being of international students; it must be addressed so that international students can succeed  in U.S. colleges and universities.

Statement of the Purpose

The purpose of this field project is to conduct a brief ethnography in order to understand the cultural adaptation of Madarin-speaking Chinese students attending graduate school in US universities.  This research aims to uncover common problems experienced by these students, and to understand the best methods and resources for solving these problems.  The data gathered from this research will be used to inform the creation of a handbook of resources to help Mandarin-speaking Chinese graduate students adapt and integrate into the local US culture.  Resources in the handbook will be based on the recommendations of the study participants and may include items such as…

Theoretical Framework

This project is guided by the affective-humanistic approach. The approach majorly focuses on making learners comfortable and providing a soothing learning experience. The user in this approach used customs and play, narrated stories and engaged in game playing with their students, honored the feelings and strivings of the students to make them feel comfy. Some approaches from this methodology encompassed positive reinforcement, making students assume a new character to get them out of their cocoons and encourage practicing the new language, and being unconstrained and imaginative. Users often repeated reading and listening exercises multiple times, each time focusing on different aspects of combining these exercises with music or smell to open the intuitive personality. They frequently had students create by dancing and singing and using games to assist students in liberating their psyches. The methodology accentuates on how important the students are, and how they are altogether cherished and all equal. Reducing the stress of the mandarin students happens on two planes of awareness. The first one is the conscious mind, and the other one is the subconscious mind. The affective humanistic methodology relies upon having fun in learning. It relies upon singing, playing music, dancing, and taking delight in every bit of the class. Several unique procedures that might have been utilized in strategies in this approach are alluded to as de-suggestopedia or the silent way.

Methodology

This field project will begin with a brief ethnography that uses interviews to understand the cross-cultural adaptation experiences  of Mandarin-speaking students. Data was  gathered from thirty  mandarin speaking students from a medium-sized four-year private university in the Northern part of the state of California. Fifteen of the participants were female and fifteen were male. Their ages were ranging from eighteen to twenty-five years old.  They had already studied the English language for two years. The researcher asked their contact numbers and set an appointment for them to answer a few questions. Before conducting the interviews/focus group, all of the participants were informed about the research purposes and assured data confidentiality. The participants will participate in the interview/focus group in a university library study room. They were allowed to withdraw or stop the interview/focus group if they felt uncomfortable. The interview/focus group will last approximately 30-60 minutes. The researcher stayed in the room with the participants to clarify some items when they needed it. The filled questionnaires were immediately taken to the researcher and The researcher will review the interview data and identify common themes among the participants’ interviews in order to identify the cross-cultural adaptation problems and strategic solutions of the participants.  Evidence gathered through this process will be used to create a handbook to help Mandarin-speaking students in US graduate schools navigate issues related to cultural adaptation.

Research and Interview Questions

The following research and interview questions will guide the brief ethnography that will inform the handbook planned for this field project.

Research Questions

• What are the factors that motivate Mandarin-speaking graduate students to study in the US?

Interview Questions Related to the Research Questions

• Explain why/how you chose to study in the US?

Significance of the Project

This project is important to Mandarin-speaking students because it may help to create a community that is useful and relevant to their lives. The handbook will be based on individual life experiences which may support Mandarin-speaking graduate students in the US to overcome the difficulties associated with cultural adaptation. This field project may also raise awareness of the stress of Mandarin-speaking students in US colleges and universities.  This may be helpful to university staff and professors who want to learn more about these students.  It may encourage teachers to create individually relevant lessons for their students.  Finally, this field project may be of interest to other researchers in the field of… because…

When referring to the US, it is best to use “US” and not “America,” since America refers to the entire continent, and can be understood to mean any/all of North America, Central America, and/or South America.

This section need to be written.  Review the resources in blue before writing it.

Also, read the chapter one rubric items for statement of the problem

Also, use your AB final reflection to write this section.

Here is a model of how to put your words into the form expected in this section.  Read over this revision and make sure it retains your original meaning.

finish this.

In order to write this section, you must refer to the literature on the affective-humanistic approach.  This means that you need to cite the main authors that developed this theory.

Typically, this section discusses the specific theory (or theories) related to the problem or project and/or what

is known about the problem from other empirical studies.

For more about the theoretical framework/rationale, see Creswell and Creswell (2018, p. 61-65; 72-73) and https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Rz2ddw1nGhlrrnoc7_ewBANuRskkMDKe

I would offer additional readings but I am not familiar with this model.

A different theory you might consider is Krashen’s affective filter theory.  If you choose to use that theory, let me know and I can send you copies of several sources related to that theory.

This section is looking good – read over my suggestions and questions below.

As a methodology, ethnography is concerned with lived experience and the shared culture of a particular group.

This whole paragraph needs to be written in the future tense.  For example, “Data will be gathered from…”

This is a huge number.  Consider one of the following options:

1) 1:1 interviews with 2-3 students

or

2) one focus group that includes 3-5 students

I recommend that you narrow your focus to Mandarin-speaking graduate students as you may have easy access to participants.

Here is a model of how you can use your own ideas to craft research questions.

Here is a model of how you can turn your research questions into interview questions that you can ask your participants.

finish this